{"id":148897,"date":"2023-10-07T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=148897"},"modified":"2023-10-06T18:07:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T22:07:02","slug":"colts-titans-keys-victory-week-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/10\/07\/colts-titans-keys-victory-week-5\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Indianapolis Colts Can Topple Their Division Rival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In Week 5, the Indianapolis Colts (2-2) will play at home against the AFC South rival Tennessee Titans (2-2). This is the first meeting between the two clubs this season and the result could very well determine who leads the division heading into Week 6.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest storyline, of course, surrounding the Colts is the potential return of Jonathan Taylor. The star running back, who missed the first four games of the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List, could make his season debut Sunday against the Titans. Tennessee has won its last five matchups with the Colts. What will it take for Indianapolis to end its losing streak against the guys from Nashville this week?<\/p>\n<p>[metabet_core_game_tile query=&#8221;fbp\/indianapolis_colts&#8221; size=&#8221;350&#215;300&#8243; site_id=&#8221;lastwordonsports&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>3 Keys for a Colts Victory vs Titans<\/h2>\n<h3>Stop Derrick Henry<\/h3>\n<p>Titans running back Derrick Henry didn\u2019t have a great start to the season, recording just 163 rushing yards through the first three games.\u00a0However, Henry came to life during <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/10\/03\/its-time-for-the-cincinnati-bengals-to-have-some-difficult-conversations\/\" target=\"_self\">Tennessee\u2019s Week 4 win over the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. He had 22 carries for 122 yards and a rushing touchdown. He also threw his fourth-career touchdown pass as he found tight end Josh Whyle in the end zone.<\/p>\n<p>The Colts\u2019 main goal will be shutting down Henry. He\u2019s one of the league\u2019s best running backs and they can\u2019t afford to let him run through their defense.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Derrick Henry with a Touchdown \ud83d\udc51 \ud83d\udd25<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UuSxNkhIHz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/UuSxNkhIHz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alabama DieHards (@DiehardsAlabama) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DiehardsAlabama\/status\/1708545551615111563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Shred the Titans\u2019 Pass Defense<\/h3>\n<p>The Titans possess a weak defensive secondary, ranking 23rd in pass defense. With that said, Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson could very well muster up a big-time passing performance.<\/p>\n<p>In last week\u2019s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Richardson led Indianapolis back from a 23-0 deficit and scored 23 unanswered points during the third and fourth quarters. The Colts still lost 29-23 in overtime, though. Richardson threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. He also rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>If Richardson&#8217;s pass-catching corps, including Michael Pittman Jr, Josh Downs, and Kylen Granson, are at their best, the Colts will have a great chance to win. It\u2019s imperative that the team takes advantage of Tennessee\u2019s not-so-dangerous secondary.<\/p>\n<h3>Colts\u2019 Secondary Needs to Step Up Against Titans Receivers<\/h3>\n<p>The Titans aren&#8217;t the only team in this matchup who have a weak secondary. Indianapolis is even worse, ranking 28th in pass defense.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/10\/05\/a-test-in-the-west-eagles-vs-rams-picks\/\" target=\"_self\">Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a> carved up the Colts for 319 passing yards. Rookie receiver Puka Nacua did some damage as well, producing nine receptions for 163 yards and scoring the game-winning touchdown during overtime. The Colts&#8217; secondary lost Stephon Gilmore, Brandon Facyson, and Isaiah Rodgers during the offseason. Now, starter Dallis Flowers is out for the season after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/colts\/news\/colts-lose-dallis-flowers-achilles-rest-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">suffering<\/a> an Achilles injury against the Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Second-round pick Julius Brents is set to become an every-down starter. At the No. 3 cornerback spot, the team will likely rotate rookie Jaylon Jones and second-year undrafted free agent Darrell Baker Jr. The Colts secondary, which also includes Kenny Moore II, Julian Blackmon, and Rodney Thomas II, must step up against the Titans on Sunday. Ryan Tannehill isn&#8217;t an elite quarterback by any stretch, but he could make the Colts pay if their pass defense struggles mightily.<\/p>\n<p><em>Universal Responsible Gambling Disclaimer: Ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Indianapolis Colts will take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 5, hoping to end their five-game losing streak against the division rivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[9564,596,56,6237],"class_list":["post-148897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colts","tag-anthony-richardson","tag-derrick-henry","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jonathan-taylor"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}